Marcus woke up the next morning to seventeen missed calls.
Twelve from Sarah. Three from Jackson. Two from Uncle Mike.
This is either very bad or very, very bad.
He called Sarah first.
"You're on the news," she said immediately.
"What?"
"Turn on Channel 4. Now."
Marcus grabbed his laptop, pulled up the local news stream. The headline made his stomach drop:
"MYSTERY VIGILANTE STOPS ARMED ROBBERY"
The footage was from the convenience store's security camera. Grainy, black and white, but clear enough. Marcus in his hoodie and bandana, moving at enhanced speed, taking down three armed men in under ten seconds.
The news anchor was practically breathless: "—incredible footage showing what appears to be a vigilante intervening in last night's robbery. Police have not identified the individual, but witnesses describe him as extremely fast and highly trained—"
"Oh no."
"Oh yes," Sarah said. "You're viral. The video has 200,000 views already. Twitter is going insane. People are calling you everything from 'Gotham's new hero' to 'reckless vigilante endangering civilians.'"
"I was trying to stay anonymous."
"You forgot about security cameras. Very first rule of vigilante work, Marcus."
"In my defense, I was focused on not getting shot."
"Not good enough." Sarah's tone was sharp. "Get dressed. Come to my apartment. We're doing damage control."
Sarah's apartment was in full crisis mode when Marcus arrived.
Jackson had three different news streams playing on his laptop. Sarah had printed screenshots from social media. Her walls—already covered in Marcus's training data—now included surveillance angles and visibility analysis.
"Okay," Sarah said, pulling up the convenience store footage. "Let's break down what they can actually see."
She froze frames, zoomed in. "Face: completely covered by bandana and hood. Good. Body type: visible but generic enough. Height approximately six feet, athletic build. That describes half of Gotham's male population."
"Movement speed," Jackson added, pointing to a frame. "That's the problem. You're moving way faster than normal. People are going to notice that."
"Can't exactly slow down when being shot at."
"Which is why you need to be more careful about cameras." Sarah pulled up another angle. "The store had three cameras. You disabled zero of them. That's amateur hour."
"I didn't think—"
"Exactly. You didn't think." She softened slightly. "But it's your first real operation. Mistakes happen. We learn from them."
Marcus studied the footage. His enhanced speed was obvious in slow motion. The way he moved between targets, the precision of his strikes—it looked superhuman because it was.
"How bad is this?"
"Honestly? Could be worse." Jackson scrolled through social media. "Most people think it's edited footage or trick camera work. Some think you're a meta-human. A few think you're connected to Batman."
"Batman?"
"Gotham's full of conspiracy theorists. Every vigilante gets compared to Batman." Jackson showed Marcus a Twitter thread. "See? 'New Bat-family member?' 'Batman's latest protégé?' 'Robin grew up and got angry?'"
"That's ridiculous."
"That's Gotham." Sarah pulled up a new document. "But here's the real problem: you're visible now. People know someone's operating. That means criminals will be watching for you. Police will be watching for you. And worse—"
"Other vigilantes will be watching for me," Marcus finished.
"Exactly. Gotham has a whole ecosystem of people in costumes. Some heroes. Some villains. All of them dangerous." Sarah looked at him seriously. "You just announced your presence to all of them."
Marcus slumped into a chair. "So what do I do?"
"Short term? Lay low. No interventions for a week. Let the news cycle move on." Sarah started typing. "Long term? We make you actually invisible. Better gear. Camera awareness. Real operational security."
"And a name," Jackson added. "Because if you don't pick one, the internet will. And trust me, you don't want the internet naming you."
Marcus looked at the social media threads. People were already suggesting names:
"The Hood" "Gotham Ghost"
"Speed Demon" "The Blur" "Night Runner"
None of those are terrible, but none of them feel right either.
"I'll think about it," Marcus said. "But first, how do I make sure this doesn't happen again?"
Sarah pulled up a map of Gotham. "Camera awareness training. I've marked every major surveillance system in the city. Banks, traffic cameras, business security, police cameras. You need to know where they all are."
"That's thousands of cameras."
"Welcome to modern vigilante work. It's not just punching bad guys anymore." She zoomed in on a neighborhood. "We start with Crime Alley and the East End. Those are where you're most likely to operate. Learn those systems first."
Jackson added more information. "Also, we need to talk about your fighting style. You're using all your abilities at once. That makes you effective but also makes you stand out. You need to hold back sometimes. Look more normal."
"Hold back while fighting armed criminals?"
"Hold back enough that you don't look superhuman on camera." Jackson pulled up the footage again. "See this? You crossed eight feet in less than a second. That's not human speed. You need to use your abilities more subtly."
Marcus hadn't considered that. His enhanced speed, strength, and reflexes were so natural now that he forgot they made him obviously different.
"So I need to be faster than normal criminals but slower than my actual maximum."
"Exactly. Save the full speed for emergencies." Jackson made notes. "We should practice this. Controlled environments where you deliberately hold back your abilities."
"This is getting complicated."
"It's going to get more complicated," Sarah warned. "Because right now you're small-time. Local news story. But if you keep this up, you'll attract bigger attention. The kind of attention that comes in costumes and has their own abilities."
"You think other vigilantes will come after me?"
"Maybe. Or villains. Or both." She pulled up a file. "Gotham's cape scene is territorial. Batman has his areas. Other heroes have theirs. You're an unknown factor. That makes people nervous."
Marcus absorbed that. He'd been so focused on training and helping people that he hadn't considered the larger ecosystem he was entering.
"What about Batman? Will he come after me?"
"Unknown." Sarah shrugged. "He might be watching already. Might not care. Might wait to see what you do. Batman's unpredictable."
"Great. So I need to worry about criminals, police, other vigilantes, and maybe Batman."
"Welcome to Gotham vigilante life," Jackson said cheerfully. "It's exactly as complicated as you're imagining."
Marcus's phone buzzed. Text from Uncle Mike:
Uncle Mike:Saw the news. That was you, wasn't it?
Of course Uncle Mike figured it out. He knows me too well.
Marcus texted back: Maybe. Possibly. Hypothetically.
Uncle Mike:Be careful. And call me. We need to talk.
"My uncle knows," Marcus told Sarah and Jackson.
"Of course he does. You lived with him for years. He knows how you move." Sarah made a note. "That's another problem. People who know you well can identify you even with face covering. Your mannerisms, body language, fighting style—it all points to you."
"So I need to change how I fight?"
"You need to be aware of it. Maybe develop a separate 'vigilante persona.' Different body language. Different speech patterns. Make it harder to connect your civilian identity to your masked one."
This was getting overwhelming. Marcus had thought the hard part would be the actual fighting. But operational security, camera awareness, persona management—that was a whole different skill set.
"Okay. Let's make a plan." Marcus pulled out his phone, opened Sarah's app. "What do I need to do?"
Sarah created a new checklist:
IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES:
Lay low for one week (no interventions)
Study camera systems in likely operation areas
Practice holding back abilities (look less superhuman)
Develop vigilante persona (different body language/mannerisms)
Better gear (Sarah will design)
Choose codename (because internet will if you don't)
NEXT STEPS:
Continue training but avoid public interventions
Build investigative skills (track crimes without being visible)
Learn Gotham's villain roster (know who you might face)
Establish communication protocols (how to contact Bullock safely)
Create escape routes (know how to disappear fast)
"That's a lot," Marcus said.
"That's vigilante work." Sarah closed her laptop. "You wanted to help people. This is what it takes. Not just fighting—all the stuff around fighting that keeps you alive and anonymous."
Jackson stood up. "I need to get to class. But Marcus? Be smart about this. You went public last night. That changes everything. Don't take that lightly."
"I won't."
After Jackson left, Sarah and Marcus sat in silence for a moment.
"Are you having second thoughts?" Sarah asked quietly.
"About helping people? No." Marcus looked at the frozen image of himself on her laptop screen. "But about how complicated this is going to be? Maybe."
"Good. Doubt is healthy. Keeps you careful." She smiled slightly. "Just don't let it stop you. You saved two people last night. That matters more than the complications."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Now go call your uncle. And start studying those camera maps. You've got a week to become actually invisible."
Marcus called Uncle Mike on the walk back to his apartment.
"It was you," Uncle Mike said immediately. Not a question.
"Yeah."
"You could have been killed."
"But I wasn't. Training paid off."
Uncle Mike was quiet for a long moment. "I'm not going to tell you to stop. I know you better than that. You've got that thing in you—the thing your dad had. Can't walk away when someone needs help."
"Dad did this?"
"Not the vigilante thing. But he was always helping people. Fixing things. Standing up when it would've been easier to stay quiet." Uncle Mike's voice was thick with memory. "Got him killed eventually. Car accident because he stopped to help someone else. I don't want that to happen to you."
"I'm being careful."
"You got shot at."
"But the bullets missed. Enhanced reflexes work."
"This time." Uncle Mike sighed. "Look, I can't stop you. But promise me something. Promise me you'll be smart. Not brave—smart. Brave gets you killed. Smart keeps you alive."
"I promise."
"And kid? Get better gear than a hoodie. You look like you're about to rob a convenience store, not save one."
Despite everything, Marcus smiled. "Working on it."
After hanging up, Marcus sat on his apartment couch and looked at the tactical mask and reinforced hoodie Sarah had given him the night before.
One intervention. One successful operation.
And now everyone knew someone was out there.
No turning back now. This is real. This is actually happening.
Marcus pulled up Sarah's camera map on his phone and started studying.
Gotham had 47,000 surveillance cameras across the city. He needed to learn where they all were.
And in a week, back to work. But smarter this time. More careful.
Actually invisible instead of just fast.
Outside his window, Gotham continued its eternal chaos. Sirens. Shouting. The sounds of a city that never stopped needing help.
Marcus had a week to prepare.
Then he'd be back.
Smarter. Better equipped. Actually ready for the visibility that came with this life.
One week. Then phase two begins.
And this time, no cameras.